Investors saving for years to buy property

Almost one-third of investors took more than four years to save the deposit for their investment property, Mortgage Choice has revealed.

Some 30 per cent of respondents in the listed brokerage’s annual Investor Survey said they had been saving for many years before being able to buy.

Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said with property prices rising fairly consistently across most markets, he was not surprised to see so many investors struggling to save their property deposit.

“Data from CoreLogic found property values across the combined capital cities climbed 1.6 per cent over the month of May,” Mr Flavell said.

“Sydney was the standout performer, with values surging 3.1 per cent in the capital city over the course of the month.”

Mr Flavell noted that over the 12 months to June, property values have risen 10.0 per cent across the combined capital cities.

The Mortgage Choice boss said it is all the more impressive when you consider the fact that this level of growth is actually significantly lower than the last couple of years.

“Since 2013, property prices have skyrocketed across most markets. As a result, investors and home buyers are finding it is taking them longer to save the deposit they need in order to purchase property,” he said.

In addition to rising property prices, Mr Flavell said the rising cost of living is also making it harder for buyers to save a property deposit.

“With the cost of living rising substantially over the last few years, many investors are arguing that they are unable to save as much of their regular pay cheque as they would like,” he said.

According to the Investor Survey, 64.7 per cent of investors set aside less than 20 per cent of their regular paycheck towards their deposit.

“Most people can’t afford to save more than that each month. And when you consider that the average mortgage size has grown 23.4 per cent since 2012, while the average wage has risen just 8.8 per cent over the same time period, it isn’t surprising to see so many Australians saving for years in order to buy property,” Mr Flavell said.

He warned that something needs to be done to ensure housing – regardless of whether it is for owner- occupied or investment purposes – doesn’t become unaffordable for Australians.

“We need to make sure property ownership is still an attainable goal for all Australians as well as our future generations.”